text: Lead and silver in river waters are commonly found together and associated with lead mining. Impacts from very old mines can be very long-lived. In the River Ystwyth in Wales for example, the effects of silver and lead mining in the 17th and 18th centuries in the headwaters still causes unacceptably high levels of Zinc and Lead in the river water right down to its confluence with the sea. 
  Silver is very toxic even at very low concentrations but leaves no visible evidence of its contamination.
  Lead is also highly toxic to freshwater organisms and to humans if the water is used as drinking water. As with Silver, Lead pollution is not visible to the naked eye. The River Rheidol in west Wales had a major series of lead mines in its headwaters until the end of the 19th century and its mine discharges and waste tips remain to this day. In 1919 - 1921 only 14 species of invertebrates were found in the lower Rheidol when Lead concentrations were between 0.2ppm and 0.5ppm. By 1932 the lead concentration had reduced to 0.02ppm to 0.1ppm because of the abandonment of mining and, at those concentrations, the bottom fauna had stabilized to 103 species including three leeches.
  Coal mining is also a very significant source of metals, especially Iron, Zinc and Nickel particularly where the coal is rich if pyrites which oxidises on contact with the air producing a very acidic leachate which is able to dissolve metals from the coal.
  Significant levels of copper are unusual in rivers and where it does it occur the source is most likely to be mining activities, coal stocking, or pig farming. Rarely elevated levels may be of geological origin. Copper is acutely toxic to many freshwater organisms, especially algae, at very low concentrations and significant concentration in river water may have serious adverse effects on the local ecology.